Gate for coal or other pockets.



3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED JULY 14, 1903.

J. CAMPBELL.

GATE FOR GOAL OR OTHER POGKETS.

' APPLICATION FILED FEB. 13, 1902.

no MODEL.

NI IIHIWHHHWL WWI-P155555 PATENTED JULY 14, 1903.

J. CAMPBELL. GATE FOR GOAL OR OTHER POGKETS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 13, 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F0 MODEL.

WITH E5 EEEZ J'HE "cams FEI'ERS co Puma-mac. WASHKNGTONJD.

PATENTED JULY 14, 1903.

J. CAMPBELL. GATE FOR GOAL OR OTHER POGKBTS.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 13, 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET a.

N0 MODEL.

mi mums PETER; co. Pum'au'ma. wmmuomu b, c.

rte. 73,623.

UNITED STATES- Patented July 14, 1905;

.IEEEMIAI-i cAMEBELt, OF NEW'roN, MASSACHUSETTS.

GATE FOR COAL ee OFI'HER PocKETs;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 733,623, dated my 14,1903;

Application filed February 13, 1902. Serial No. 93,888. (No model.) i

To all whom it way concern.-

Be it known that I, JEREMIAH CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Newton, in the county of Middle sex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gates forCoal or other Pockets, of which the following is afull, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, in explaining its nature.

The delivery outlets or passages from pockets and similar receptaclesfor holding coal and other material in bulk have usually been ofrelatively small area and capacity, especially when the gate has beenoperable by hand, and this is particularly true of outlets tocoal-pockets. It is desirable, however, for the rapid handling of thecontents of these pockets that the outlets should be large in area. Thatthey have not been so has been largely due to the fact that no gate hasbeen devised which could be rapidly closed and which in closingdeveloped so little friction that it could be operated by hand, and myinvention relates to a gate so organized, constructed, and operated thatwhile permitting the employment of outlets to pockets of large area itserves to quickly close them and without developing undue friction andwithout liability of cramping or stoppage of any kind by the coal orother material.

I will now describe the invention, in con junction with the drawings,forming a part of this specification, wherein Figure 1 is a view,largely in end elevation, of one type of my improved gate. Fig. 2 is aview thereof in vertical section upon the dotted line 2 2 of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a view in vertical section of a modified form of the gate towhich reference is hereinafter made. Fig. 4: is a broken section uponthe dotted line it a of Fig.

The form of the invention best adapted, in my opinion, for the rapiddelivery of large quantities of material from a pocket or hopper is'thatshown in Fig. 1, and I will first describe this modification of theinvention and.

later the modifications shown in the other figures.

In the drawings the hopper or pocket A of Fig. 2 has a bottom providedwith inclined surfaces a a, which come together. The outlet a of thepocket or hopper is in the lower part of the inclined surface a, thelower edge of the opening being in line with the inclined surface a. Theopening connects the hopper or pocket A with the passage 13 of the gate.This passage is formed by side plates Z) Z) and the bottom plate bpreferably made of cast metal and shaped at the corners to be boltedtogether and to also be bolted to the under surface of the hopper orpocket. The bottom plate li may have an integral bracket or brace 1)adapted to be bolted to a support, by means of which the gate structureis further secured and steadied in place. The passage B of the gate ispreferably of the same size throughout and is continuous anduninterrupted. The lower edge b of each side plate is curved to the arcof the circle upon which the gate 0 is moved to open and close thepassage B.

The gate comprises a curved metal plate 0, of a size to close the lowerend of the passage B and to extend beyond the side walls sufficiently tobe attached by riveting to the segment-hangers O 0 upon each side of theside plates. These hangers are mounted by pivots or studs 0 upon theside plates, the pivots or studs being the centers upon which the curvedlower edges of the side plates are constructed and upon which theclosing-plate c is movable. These pivots or studs, itis to be noted, areplaced slightly off centerthat is, relatively to the top and bottom ofthe passagewayfor they are placed nearer to the top of the passage-waythan to the bottom, with the result that the gate, moving from thesepivots as a center, closes up to stop the flow of coal with aforward-drawing motion instead of with a sharp abrupt cut-01f, as wouldbe obtained if the gate moved from a center which had placement nearerthe center line of demarcationbetween the top and the bottom of thepassage-way. Thus pivoted and moving, as it does, upon the arc of acircle, the gate closes upon the coal with the least degree of friction,for with the outwardly-drawing kind of cut-off it moves with and notagainst the coal, and so enables it to roll and otherwise accommodateitself to the movement of the gate instead of being cramped and forcedback, as would be occasioned if the gate was hung to cut abruptly acrossthe end of the passageway. Each of the hangers C C also forms or hassegmental gears c preferably interiorly arranged, as represented in Fig.I.- They extend backward sufficiently far to be always in engagementwith the operating-pinions (Z upon the shaft D when the gate is closed.This permits the shaft D to be attached to the under side of the bottomplate b by suitable hangers, as represented in Fig. 2. The shaft D maybe turned in any suitable way. I have represented it as turned by hand,and for this purpose it is provided with a drum (1, about which anendless turning rope or chain (1 is wound, which rope extends downwardin the form of a loop to any convenient distance. By drawing one side ofthe rope the shaft D and its pinions are turned to cause the gate to beopened by engagement of the pinions with the curved racks or gears c andby drawing the other side of the rope the rotation of the shaft andgears is reversed and the gate is caused to be moved in the oppositedirection. It will be seen that by this means the power for opening andclosing the gate is applied at some distance from the center on whichthe gate is hung and that the hangers thus become levers the centers ofwhich are the fulcrums and the power being directly applied to theirouter and free ends.

The rear end of the gate-plate 0 may be turned up to form the lip c forshutting against the outer surface of the bottom plate IF when the gateis in closed position, and thus seal the joint which might otherwiseexist there and prevent the escape of fine particles or dust from thepassage or hopper.

\Vhen the passage closed by the gate is inclined, the top of it may notbe closed, as the contents of the passage and hopper will not fill thepassage sufficiently to escape through the open top. This constructionis of advan tage, because it permits the interior of the passage andalso the opening in the hopper to the passage to be readily reached atany time and without the removal of any part and so that a clearing-rodmaybe introduced through it into the passage and hopper and any cloggingof the mouth or the passage immediately relieved, this clogging being tosome extent unavoidable where large'pieces of bituminous coal are beingfed. ()n the other hand, I would say that my invention permits 0f theuse of an opening in the hopper or passage of very large area, so thatclogging is very much less likely to occur in its use than when theopening and passage are restricted, as is now the case, owing to theditliculty in the operation of the gate. A gate thus shaped,constructed, and actuated can be operated very quickly and with smallerapplication of force to both open and close the passage. Its shape andmovement upon a curved path reduces the friction of the coal upon it andpermits the coal to move, roll, or otherwise accommodate itself to itsmovement without being cramped or forced by it in its movement, and withthe inclined passage the weight of the coal is in part borne by theinclined bottom, and as it does not entirely fill the passage there isan opportunity for it to yield upwardly as the gate is being closed.

In Fig. I have represented 'an application of the improved gate to apassage which extends vertically from an opening in the pocket orhopper. In this structure the passage is made of the plates 6, e, 6 and6 which are shaped to be bolted together at the corners and to thebottom of the pocket. preferably also shaped to provide a passage whichgradually increases in area from the opening in the pocket to its outletand the plate e is also shaped to form a relief-chamber 62, opening fromthe passage. The bottom of this relief-passage is represented as curvedand the lower edges of the plates are also curved to an arc struck fromthe center of the pivot upon which the gate is hung. The gate and itshangers are like in construction the gate and hangers of Fig. 1 and itis similarly operated by segment gears or racks and pinions upon anoperating-shaft. The operating-shaft has in lieu of the drum of Fig. 1an operating wheel or pulley a about which an operating draw rope orchain extends. This pulley or wheel is of relatively large size andmultiplies the power delivered to the shaft and its pinions.

\Vhile the gate will operate as I have described with some kinds ofmaterial, it may be well to provide the passage with the reliefextension 0, into which the material mayescape while the gate is beingclosed, and thus relieve the gate from the friction which mightotherwise be caused if the relief were not provided.

I have described the advantages of the invention in conjunction with itsconstruction and operation. I

I prefer that the gearing be located at or near the outer ends of thehangers in order to provide large leverage and that they extend when thegate is closed backward beyond the back edge of the outlet sufficientlyto remain in engagement with the gearing which operates them. I alsoprefer that the gate move on an are which is favorable to the line ofmovement of material through the passage rather than opposed to it, asby such movement the material bears with less retarding friction uponthe gate and the gate tends to free itself more easily from the flowingmaterial in opening and also enters it and closes the outlet with lessfriction, the accommodation of one to the other being very marked in theoperation of the gate and permitting large-sized passages through whichvery heavy material is rapidly passing to be very quickly opened andclosed by a rapid movement of the gate, a result, so far as I am aware,that has not heretofore been accomplished.

My gate is adapted to be used in the trans- They are ICC fer of coal orlike material, where it serves to control the outlet of a hopperreceiving the deposit of a grab to be discharged into an attendanttransfer-car. Inasmuch as the hopper is preferably of sufficientcapacity to receive and hold at least two loads of the grab, in order tosecure an independence of action between the grab and the transfer-earit is desirable for the rapid handling of the contents of the hopperthat its outlet should be of relatively large area, and which myimproved gate is especially adapted to control.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim and desire to securebyLetters Patent of the United States- 1. An escape-passage having anoutlet provided with curved side edges or borders and a gate for openingand closing the same movable in a curved path along said curved edges orborders and having a curved closing plate or bottom, the said gate alsohaving means for preventing, when closed, the escape of dust from thepassage from either end of its bottom.

2. An escape-passage having an outlet provided with curved side edges orborders and a gate for opening and closing the same movable in a curvedpath along said curved edges or borders and having a curved closingplate or bottom and a joint-sealing abutment at the rear end of saidclosing plate or bottom to close against the side of the wall of thepassage adjacent to its rear lower edge.

An escape-passage having an outlet provided with curved side edges orborders and a gate for opening and closing the same movable in a curvedpath along said curved edges or borders and having a curved closingplate or bottom, the lower edge of which is turned upward to closeagainst the rear wall of the passage upon the closing of the gate.

4. An escape-passage having an outlet provided with curved side edges orborders and a gate for opening and closing the same movable in a curvedpath along said curved edges or borders, having a curved closing plateor bottom, and suspended segmental hangers, one upon each side of thepassage, each of whichhas an integral rack or gear, and a shaft havingmeans for turning the same and pinions to engage said integral segmentalgears,

gate for closing and opening said outlet and a relief extension oropening to said passage toward which the gate closes.

6. An escape-passage having an inlet, an outlet larger than the inlet,the passage gradually increasing in size from inlet to outlet, a reliefchamber or opening upon the side toward which the gate closes, and agate for opening and closing the outlet.

'7. An escape-passage having an outlet provided with curved side edgesor borders and also having a relief extension upon the side toward whichthe gate closes having a curved bottom in extension of the curve of theside edges or borders, and a gate for opening and closing the outletmovable in a curved path along said curved surfaces and having a curvedclosing plate or bottom.

8. An escape-passage having an inlet and outlet made of cast-metalplates having verti-.

cal abutting, bolting-flanges and lateral sus pending-flanges at theirupper ends, and one of which plates also has brackets furnishingbearings for a shaft and others of which means for supportingoutwardly-projecting studs, hangers mounted upon said studs, a closingplate or bottom for closing the passage-outlet carried by saidhangersand connecting their outer ends, a gearing carried by the hangers, and ashaft supported by the shaft-brackets having means for engaging thegearing and also means for turning it.

9. The combination of an escape-passage having an outlet provided withcurved side edges or borders, a gate for opening and closing the samemovable in a curved path along said curved .edges or borders having acurved closing plate or bottom and pivoted, suspending-hangers, a curvedgearing at or near the outerend of the hangers extending when the gateis closed beyond the end of the passage to then be in engagement with anactuatinggearing, and said actuating-gearing.

JEREMIAH CAMPBELL,

lVitn esses:

F. F. RAYMOND, 2d, J. M. DOLAN.

